When I first started playing I looked at the tech tree to find my favorite planes and then started to work towards getting them. That was a BAD idea. It made my progress really slow. I couldn't get tokens except from medals so I couldn't buy more hangar slots. What I had to do was clear out my hangar and get planes that were good for the game instead of just the planes I want. since I did that I have been making tokens hand over fist completing daily missions So I have some advice to new players starting out on what planes to pick. Follow the right hand rule. Its not perfect but its simple. When you first start the game you have 5 planes/pilots, one from each nation. As you progress through the tech tree always follow it to the far right. You end up with some great planes from all 5 classes of fighter multirole heavy ground attack and bomber.

Starting with the US you would follow the p47 line. If I had only 1 tier 8 I would want it to be the xp-72. it has the biggest payload of outboard weapons even more than heavy fighters yet its a multi role. This gives you the versatility to do almost every daily mission with just one plane unless its nation or class specific. Besides the xp72 the whole line is really great.

With Germany you get your low tier heavies than progress to mid tier bombers. They are the best of both. With the do 217 you can get the lang medal almost every game. just fly above everything and level ground targets and nothing can touch you. admittedly it does get boring up there at times and flying a bomber is a pain until it is specialist so its not everybody's cup of tea

Russia has the best ground attack period.

Uk gives you your mid and high tier heavies. the t5 is great and the t8 is a jet.

Japan gives you a taste of light fighters. the first time I got ace was in a zero.

There are other good planes throughout the tech tree but that will get you started. once you have planes in all 5 classes at all 3 levels you can make tsunamis of tokens doing daily missions to expand your hanger. The next two lines I would recommend are the bf109b since its one of the best t4 fighters and will take you to the me 262 with aerial rockets to get the rocket medal. medal tokens are still tokens after all. The I-16 to yak 1 line is another good one and if you want all the distinguished badges the I-16 is mandatory to get rocket strike because its the only thing that has rockets up to tier 3.

Take the BV210 instead of 262 if you need something to use rocket with. It's purpose-built for that and much easier to aim with...although it requires you to go down the Focke-Wulf line which is more or less a trecherous route.

WoWP makes a great jousting game...especially with the 262 and people busy in furballs...
I am deaf, silent, and fly with unrealistic controls. Do not count on me to carry - my back's already broken from overweight.

New players should go for the planes that turn good first like Ki, Zero, Spitfire, Yak-1 line. It's easier to learn.

Or ground attack Russian planes, but they don't have a gunner on tier 4 and 5.

Then high altitude light fighters like Bf-109 and P-51 Mustang.

Planes like heavy fighter are hard to learn and hard to win especially in 2.0. Longest bomb reload, big size, low maneuverability and long set of rules to play it good, make it very hard for new players. I like American heavies more. Many people like Bristol Beaufighter, it's got bombs, rockets and a big turret with a gunner.

Bombers are usually get bored and with new equipment in 2.0.5 they blow up more easily now(not possible to protect hull like on GA anymore, gunners don't help too much against humans especially).

Multiroles like Thunderbolts people usually don't like, because it doesn't allow mistakes and harder to learn. A player must prioritize targets, keep speed up (no turning fights with most planes), help ground attack planes and protect everything (because they are fast and can get in many places fast). This makes Thunderbolt easier to win when playing against bots especially if playing good. F-84B and F-84F are more maneuverable and better planes, but the enemies are even worse and bombs and rockets don't feel as powerful as on tier 8.

Other multiroles have the same trend but some have bigger guns like fw-190 (but low bomb load and harder to fly than P-47s), some are more maneuverable like Hurricane and F4U (still worse than light fighters usually), and some like Yak-9 that have a big slow gun (they don't have altitude, speed or maneuverability).

So, if you want to fly your favorite plane, a player should learn how to fly it right, learn its advantages an weaknesses.

This rule is for those who want to try different classes of plane, not for those who want to learn how to play.

The Tbirds are a very difficult line to get the hang of without prior experience in BnZ aircraft.

German bombers and GA can be awkward to use and are an entirely different playstyle to fighters.

Soviet GA are also a completely different playstyle, not to mention there are some VICIOUS aircraft to rip them apart if they aren't careful, which let's face it most new pilots lack situational awareness.

Japanese fighters/MRF's aren't bad, but they're ultra-fragile and prone to getting 1-passed, the J7W's are very weird planes to fly compared to pretty much everything else.

UK HF's are not for new players, at all, not only does BnZ require a fair bit of practice, they're the least new-player-friendly after the Beaufighter and require specific application to do well with.

You miss a lot of excellent aircraft with this, U.S. HF's are very new-player-friendly, Yak LF's are consistently maneuverable with a bit of punch added while MiG's are a hybrid of TnB and BnZ that can dominate matches, Germans have the Me 410, and a line that leads to some of the strongest high-tier aircraft in the game (the Messerschmidt line,) UK gets the meta line in tiers 4-8, and the IJA line with Japan has the Ki-84 and Ki-94-II, both of which are incredibly strong aircraft.

I don't think this right hand rule is quite thought through for new players to be honest. If anything, it's best to start off with fighters, and begin learning new classes from there. If people were interested in the other classes though, then...

U.S. Naval MRF's (F4F's and F4U's) are a solid line to learn multiroles with that goes all the way to tier 10 (though their playstyle changes three times (tiers 2-5, 6-8, 9-10.) U.S. HF's are very new-player-friendly when it comes to learning How2Heavy with great performance characteristics albeit somewhat weak armaments for an HF. Soviet GA are the easiest to learn but it's best if you hold off for a while on GA, it's a different way to play and requires some knowledge of the game to do well with.

Right now we only have German and Soviet bombers, but, again, you probably want to hold off on bombers for a while until you learn the game more.

This rule is for those who want to try different classes of plane, not for those who want to learn how to play.

The Tbirds are a very difficult line to get the hang of without prior experience in BnZ aircraft.

German bombers and GA can be awkward to use and are an entirely different playstyle to fighters.

Soviet GA are also a completely different playstyle, not to mention there are some VICIOUS aircraft to rip them apart if they aren't careful, which let's face it most new pilots lack situational awareness.

Japanese fighters/MRF's aren't bad, but they're ultra-fragile and prone to getting 1-passed, the J7W's are very weird planes to fly compared to pretty much everything else.

UK HF's are not for new players, at all, not only does BnZ require a fair bit of practice, they're the least new-player-friendly after the Beaufighter and require specific application to do well with.

You miss a lot of excellent aircraft with this, U.S. HF's are very new-player-friendly, Yak LF's are consistently maneuverable with a bit of punch added while MiG's are a hybrid of TnB and BnZ that can dominate matches, Germans have the Me 410, and a line that leads to some of the strongest high-tier aircraft in the game (the Messerschmidt line,) UK gets the meta line in tiers 4-8, and the IJA line with Japan has the Ki-84 and Ki-94-II, both of which are incredibly strong aircraft.

I don't think this right hand rule is quite thought through for new players to be honest. If anything, it's best to start off with fighters, and begin learning new classes from there. If people were interested in the other classes though, then...

U.S. Naval MRF's (F4F's and F4U's) are a solid line to learn multiroles with that goes all the way to tier 10 (though their playstyle changes three times (tiers 2-5, 6-8, 9-10.) U.S. HF's are very new-player-friendly when it comes to learning How2Heavy with great performance characteristics albeit somewhat weak armaments for an HF. Soviet GA are the easiest to learn but it's best if you hold off for a while on GA, it's a different way to play and requires some knowledge of the game to do well with.

Right now we only have German and Soviet bombers, but, again, you probably want to hold off on bombers for a while until you learn the game more.

once you have planes in all 5 classes at all 3 levels you can make tsunamis of tokens doing daily missions to expand your hanger.

I was about to post a question on this subject, so I'll piggyback it on this thread. As a noob I don't get any tokens because I can't complete the Tier VIII-X component of missions. The highest I've gone in the tech trees is Tier 6 with P-51A and I-210, and I just did the 40k XP mission grind to get another hangar slot so I could buy the La-5. I'm close to unlocking the P-51D, and the I-220 a bit later. It seems like I'll hit Tier VIII on one of these 3 lines first. I'm out of hangar slots so I'll concentrate on just one Tier VII plane. Which of these lines is a noob probably going to Suck Least at in at Tier VIII? La-9, I-250 or P-51H? I would just be playing it to complete the multi-stage token missions at first, if that matters in the decision.

I was about to post a question on this subject, so I'll piggyback it on this thread. As a noob I don't get any tokens because I can't complete the Tier VIII-X component of missions. The highest I've gone in the tech trees is Tier 6 with P-51A and I-210, and I just did the 40k XP mission grind to get another hangar slot so I could buy the La-5. I'm close to unlocking the P-51D, and the I-220 a bit later. It seems like I'll hit Tier VIII on one of these 3 lines first. I'm out of hangar slots so I'll concentrate on just one Tier VII plane. Which of these lines is a noob probably going to Suck Least at in at Tier VIII? La-9, I-250 or P-51H? I would just be playing it to complete the multi-stage token missions at first, if that matters in the decision.

La-9. Fully upgraded, it's very competitive at a tier where you're either good or food.

P-51H and I-250 are difficult planes to handle with tricky weaponry and performance that demands you really work them well or die. Definitely not simple Token Grinders and will likely be passed over as soon as players can afford the t9s.

The next two planes in the Lavochkin line can upgrade to 23mm cannons, and while they do overheat faster than the 20s the larger bore versions have comparable range and hit noticeably harder.

What I found actually makes the otherwise good all-rounder La-9 annoying to play is that it will almost always be facing off against a jet or two, along with all the other higher climbing aircraft in its tier.

About the major drawback to the otherwise good line is that until the La-15 all the planes from tier 6 to 9 are only capable of low to medium heights, and have "sweet spot" altitudes you won't want to climb past.

Expect to get occasional matches with the Lavochkins where it seems like all of the action is occurring just out of your height limitations regardless of the capture point you go to.

The La-5 compares very well with the P39N1 in tier VI, a premium common (but nevertheless very effective) after all the code giveaways.

- the La has less guns overall, but a unitary armament (in fact, the B20(s) cannons are a shade better than those on the 'Spit, only the Soviet plane gets three of them).

- the La is slightly less maneuverable, but has the same time to turn and a better rate of roll.

- the La climbs only slightly slower, to just 300m less optimal altitude, but is a touch faster except in a dive, and has a lower stall (only two-thirds the P39s) speed.

I don't play any of my fighters much, and got a P39N code, otherwise I'd probably still have some of the mid- to upper-tier Lavochkins, despite their often too low for the current match altitude issues.

Can I say the same about any of the MiGs or the I-17 I played up through to unlock the IL-10 (tier VII)? Probably not; fragile, very fragile, with very fast overheating guns of all calibers.

If you decide to drop the line though many of the cannons are the same used for quite a few planes on the MiG and Yak lines, and will already be unlocked for you.

Edited by Soylent_Red_Isnt_People, 28 November 2018 - 05:29 PM.

"If they don't chase you after a mile, they don't chase ya.... Maybe it's two miles...." --- "You wanna play it soft, we'll play it soft. You wanna play it hard, let's play it hard."

Yeah, guns overheating, and I'm not the most steady hand so I have a low hit percentage

Unfortunately you'll find that apart from the American planes, most of the other nations require a certain level of trigger discipline. The Lavochkins are already quite forgiving in this aspect.

The La-5 is actually considered a pretty good plane for its tier once fully upgraded. The same applies to the La-9: its pretty mediocre until you get the final engine upgrade which basically straps a rocket booster to your tail.

Basically that rocket booster is the main reason the La-9 shines in comparison to the La-5 and La-7 which are already quite capable all-round airplanes. It provides tremendous acceleration which is one of the two biggest weakpoints of the preceding Lavochkins; weak boost. And because of it, you can also afford to "fight in the yellow" better than its lower tier counterparts. Its still a pretty weak altitude performer, but now you have the oomph to sustain a high-altitude fight a lot longer.